Maid charged with toddler's death
An Indonesian maid was charged in a district court yesterday with killing her employer's year-old daughter.
Maryani Usman Utar, 30, was charged with one count of culpable homicide not amounting to murder for causing the death of Richelle Teo.
Between 2 and 7.35am on Sunday, Maryani allegedly punched Richelle's neck and strangled her until she stopped crying, court papers said.
The police said they received a call for assistance at about 9.20am that day, which was also Mother's Day, at the Teos' home at Block 225, Simei Street 4.
FIRST BIRTHDAY
Richelle, who had reportedly celebrated her first birthday just five days earlier, was taken to Changi General Hospital and was pronounced dead at around 10.10am.
Maryani was later arrested and was taken back to the crime scene on Monday.
Richelle's family, including her parents, elder brother, aunt and grandparents, were at the mortuary on Monday to identify her body, reported Chinese newspaper Shin Min Daily News.
Maryani was remanded for a week for further investigations and is expected to be back in court on May 17.
If convicted, she faces up to 10 years' jail with a fine.
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